Mobile Suit Gundam is the first series in the vast Gundam series. Gundam celebrates its 30th anniversary this year on April 7th 2009!

"It is the year 0079 of the Universal Century. A half century has passed since Earth began moving its burgeoning population into gigantic orbiting space colonies. A new home for mankind. Where people are born and raised... and die. Nine months ago, the cluster of colonies furthest from the earth called Side 3 proclaimed itself the Principality of Zeon and launched a war of independence against the Earth Federation. Initial fighting lasted over one month and saw both sides lose half their respective populations. People were horrified by the indescribable atrocities that had been committed in the name of independence. Eight months had passed since the rebellion began. They were at a stalemate."

Mobile suit Gundam deals with the realities and atrocities of war. While drawing thematic elements of science fiction, the factors of the One Year War reflect that of any real conflict. The mecha used in the series are conceptualized as pure fantasy, but realized in the limits that any machine may have. The mecha used in the series are not invincible and prone to damage and malfunction; they appear at times, clumsy, and hard to maneuver. The series is unique in that it tells a story of science fiction yet the concepts and themes are not abstract.

The One Year War

Humankind lives in outerspace, in colonies called Sides. There are seven Sides in all, and the side farthest from Earth, Side 3, declares war on the Earth Federation. The government on Side 3 are known as the Principality of Zeon, and they are ruled by the Zabi family. Initial combat claims half the lives of both populations as well as destroys four of the seven sides; all that remain is the aforementioned Side 3, as well as, Side 6 who remains neutral to the conflict, and Side 7 which is remotely located and home to a secret Federation project.

Mobile Suits

The Zeon introduce the powerful mobile suits to the war with the Zaku. The Earth Federation had no weapon comparable to the Zeon Zaku, and were forced to rush development of their own mobile suits. Meanwhile the Zeon gained a foothold on Earth, dispatching forces to Eastern Europe and Asia to mine valuable resources for the Zeon war machine. The Federation replied to the threat of mobile suits with the V Project; the project remained top secret for its entirety and involved the development of a module based mobile suit system. The designer of the mobile suits was Tem Ray, father of Amuro Ray, the main protagonist in the series.

Side 7 and Luna II

The V Project was housed inside of Side 7, hidden from the enemy. Although the Zeon suspected the Federation in developing their own mobile suit weapons, all they could do was guess at their intentions. However this changed when Char Aznable, the feared ace pilot of the Zeon forces, followed the new Pegasus Class Warship, SCV-70 White Base, to Side 7. Reconnaissance performed by a team of Zaku II's, who infiltrated the colony, revealed the Federation's V Project. A firefight inside the colony ensued, and the majority of the combat-ready crew on the White Base were killed in the action. The Gundam was in danger of being destroyed until Amuro found his father trying to load it on to the White Base; Amuro entered the cockpit of the Gundam and did his best to fend off the enemy Zakus with what skill he had in operating machines. This bought time for the remaining crew of the White Base to take on civilian refugees from Side 7 as well as the remainder of the V Project.

The White Base fled Side 7 with what it could, and set out for the nearby asteroid Luna II, where they hoped to relieve the civilians and get new personnel at the Federation base there. This was not to be, the White Base had to continue relying on civilian pilots to operate the weapon systems on board the ship, and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. Char attacked again, forcing the White Base to change trajectory and enter the Earth's atmosphere deep in Zeon territory.

Across Asia and to Odessa

With White Base deep in enemy territory, it must seek Federation airspace, and this means that the crew must cross over central Asia. Initial Zeon resistance is commanded by Garma Zabi, who's GAW Attack Carriers stage a battle with the White Base. Garma is killed in battle with the White Base, and Char, who was charged in protecting Garma is removed from the field. Ramba Ral is then charged with attacking the White Base, to carry out Garma's objective of destroying the White Base, as well as exacting revenge on Garma's death. However, the White Base manages to make it to their planned location in time for a planned Federal offensive on the mines of Odessa. The mines are run by Captain M'Quve, a Zeon officer who reports to Kycilia Zabi, another one of the Zabi family. It is here that the mines are destroyed by the Federation, however, M'Quve escapes with his staff to outerspace, along with enough raw materials to keep the Zeon fighting for ten more years.

A Decoy in Space

After resting in Belfast, Ireland, the White Base makes it across the Atlantic ocean and to Federation Headquarters at the South American Jaburo base. The ship remains there for refitting and the crews briefing on their new assignment, during their extended stay Char attacks the stronghold, although to little effect. While the White Base is ordered to return to space and act as a decoy to mask Federation Operations. The White Base and five other ships are tasked to these operations, while the main Earth Federation fleet will endeavor to attack the Space Fortress Solomon.

Legacy

The original Gundam became a cornerstone of anime science fiction, an ever-present franchise and sprawling saga, still active three decades after its premiere. Its distinguishing features are firmly rooted in merchandising and its own longevity-a vast taxonomy of robot types ready for exploitation in model kits and action figures (compare to Pokémon) and a long-running future saga that has often collapsed under its own weight only to be brought back with several attempts to reset the continuity. As with other successful franchises like Star Trek, keeping track of the characters themselves also requires a sizable concordance. It's bad enough that they often seem named after random words picked from a Scrabble bag, let alone that they switch sides and identities. Matters are not helped by "joke" names that seem like a great idea to the Japanese but have caused endless difficulties to English translators trying to keep romanizations consistent. Most infamously, Char Aznable is named after the French singer Charles Aznavour, which would have been a poor enough gag in a shallow comedy like Sorcerer Hunters, but is quite damaging to the tone of an otherwise serious SF saga. The creation of Yoshiyuki Tomino, veteran of Astro Boy and Brave Raideen, Gundam combines elements of Star Wars with space-colony politics and a subtle metaphor for Japan's postwar "new breed" baby boomers-the "newtype" name was appropriated for Japan's most popular anime magazine.

The original series was re-released in three movie editions-Mobile Suit Gundam (1981), MSG 2: Soldiers of Sorrow (1981), and MSG 3: Encounters in Space (1982), the latter two comprising roughly 50% new material between them, with the bulk of it concentrated in the third movie.